PROJECTS
We have a number of ongoing research projects! Through our work with a variety of methodologies and populations, all of our research centers around the critical role of sleep in promoting and maintaining public health.
We are excited to begin some upcoming projects focused on sleep, disordered eating behaviors, affect, inhibitory control, and weight gain. Stay tuned!
CURRENT PROJECTS:
Executive function and social-cognitive predictors of behavioral sleep restriction
The purpose of this study is to examine the construct of behavioral sleep restriction, which occurs when individuals deny themselves the opportunity to achieve optimal sleep. A number of neuro- and social-cognitive processes likely contribute to this behavior, which results in insufficient sleep and increased health risk. This project will recruit 200 healthy, young adults to complete a neurocognitive task battery designed to estimate executive function (i.e., inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory) and provide information about their perceived norms, behavioral control, and attitudes toward sleep. Behavioral sleep restriction will be measured with a combination of actigraphy and self-report for one week. We anticipate the completion of data collection in summer 2019.
Behavioral influence on sleep improvement effort
This work is supported by funds from the National Science Foundation and the NDSU Department of Psychology. The aim of this ongoing protocol is to systematically evaluate and refine a range of behavioral recommendations for sleep improvement (i.e., sleep hygiene recommendations). Our protocol includes a 2 week baseline assessment period during which we monitor daily sleep characteristics (using actigraphy) as well as daily behavioral and environmental influences on sleep. Baseline participants with objectively verified poor sleep are then recruited to participate in one of several behavior change protocols to directly test the impact of specific changes on sleep. At present, this protocol examines caffeine use, napping, and sleep schedule regularity.
Validation of momentary neurocognitive tasks
Neurocognitive task batteries are well established as valid and reliable measures of executive functions. However, such tasks are typically used to measure trait-levels of cognitive function rather than momentary intra-individual variability, and therefore the tasks are often relatively long in duration. To achieve our goal of incorporating abbreviated neurocognitive tasks into ecological momentary assessment protocols (i.e., repeating the tasks several times throughout the day for multiple days), we have developed abbreviated versions of traditional tasks. The purpose of this study is to confirm the validity of the abbreviated tasks in comparison to the full-length version, providing support for their inclusion in future projects.
Intra-individual variability of sleep intentions and behavior
Insufficient sleep duration is associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes, and many Americans report that they are not meeting sleep duration recommendations. Many individuals choose to restrict their own sleep, yet little is known why they may choose to do so. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) has been used for decades to study why people participate, or do not participate, in various health behaviors, and recent research efforts have used the TPB to predict sleep health behavior. However, this research is limited in that fails to measure volitional sleep behavior (sleep opportunity) and focuses exclusively on between person differences in behavioral intentions and behavior. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and acitgrapy, this study is addressing these limitations and has the following study aims: 1) characterizing the between and within day intra-individual variability in sleep opportunity attitudes, perceived norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions 2) test whether fluctuation in daily intentions and PBC predict sleep behavior and 3) identify the components of the TPB that predict daily intentions. This is Mike's PhD dissertation project.
RECENTLY COMPLETED PROJECTS:
The role of visual attention in successful sleep health promotion
This work was supported by the NIH-funded Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience (P30 GM114748).The purpose of the study was to understand how visual and cognitive processes (e.g., attention) through the use of sleep hygiene education materials relate to actual behavior change. Our protocol included a week-long baseline assessment period during which we monitored daily sleep characteristics using actigraphy as well as daily behavioral and environmental influences on sleep. Baseline participants with objectively verified poor sleep (n=60) were then recruited to participate in a behavior change protocol to directly test the impact of various behavior changes on sleep.
The interplay of sleep and energy homeostasis in adults enrolled in a weight management program
This project was supported by funds from the Sanford Health-NDSU Seed Grant Program (PI: Irish). This project collected a broad range of behavioral and psychosocial data from approximately 200 adults enrolled in a weight management program. Specifically, we aimed to evaluate the bidirectional influence between sleep and energy homeostasis (calorie expenditure and consumption) through a week of objective sleep and exercise monitoring and daily dietary recall. The study included a broad range of self-report assessments providing a rich dataset for the examination of interpersonal, psychological, behavioral, and health-related factors in the context of sleep and weight loss behaviors.